Type 2 and other forms of diabetes in 0–30 year olds: a hospital based study in Leeds, UK

• Published in: Archives of disease in childhood 2003-08, Vol.88 (8), p.676-679
• Main Authors: Feltbower, R G, McKinney, P A, Campbell, F M, Stephenson, C R, Bodansky, H J
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age; Age Distribution; Age Groups; Asia, Southeastern - ethnology; Asian people; Asians; Binomial distribution; Biological and medical sciences; Body Composition; Care and treatment; Causes of; Censuses; Child; Child, Preschool; Clinics; Complications and side effects; Cross-Sectional Studies; Diabetes; Diabetes in children; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 - ethnology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - epidemiology; Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 - ethnology; Diabetes. Impaired glucose tolerance; Diagnosis; Endocrine pancreas. Apud cells (diseases); Endocrinopathies; England - epidemiology; Ethnic Groups; Ethnicity; Etiopathogenesis. Screening. Investigations. Target tissue resistance; Exercise; Female; Health aspects; Hospitals; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Juvenile diabetes; Male; Medical sciences; Mortality; Obesity; Original; Patients; Population; Poverty; Prevalence; Records (Forms); Research Assistants; Resource Allocation; Risk Factors; Scientific Concepts; Sex Distribution; Social Class; Social classes; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Influences; Socioeconomic Status; Teaching hospitals; Teaching Methods; Teenagers; type 2 diabetes mellitus; Urban Health; Urban populations; Young adults
• ISSN: 0003-9888; 1468-2044
• DOI: 10.1136/adc.88.8.676

Background and Aims: Following recent reports of increased numbers of adolescents being diagnosed with the adult or type 2 form of diabetes we aimed to describe the prevalence of both type 2 and other forms of diabetes in an urban population of children and young people in northern England. Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was performed in patients aged ≤30 years attending diabetic clinics in Leeds during the year 2000. Results: A total of 677 subjects were identified, of whom 621 (92%) and 37 (5%) had type 1 and type 2 diabetes respectively. Four patients had confirmed maturity onset diabetes of the young, while the cause was uncertain for four. Median age of all patients was 22 years, with 396 (58%) aged 20–30; 32/37 patients with type 2 diabetes were aged 20–30. The prevalence of type 2 diabetes was 0.13 per 1000 overall, compared to 2.2 per 1000 for patients with type 1 diabetes. Of all type 2 diabetes patients, 24% were south Asian compared to 5% of the background population; 87% were categorised into the two least affluent tertiles of the Townsend score. This link with deprivation was not explained by the proportion of Asian patients across tertiles (approximately 25%). Conclusions: This study shows extremely low prevalence of type 2 diabetes in 10–19 year olds, but will provide a baseline for future comparisons. Overall, type 2 diabetes is seen more commonly in south Asians, and an association with deprivation is suggested.